Stephan Phelan, communications director for Human Life International, has written a thoughtful article at Catholic Advocate on the recent scandal at the Catholic Health Association and its impact on “the future of Catholic unity.” Phelan’s concern is underscored by the statement of three Cardinals on behalf of the USCCB, referring to CHA’s “rogue” support of … Read more
Female genital mutilation (FGM) is an unpleasant topic, but it’s making headlines right now because the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) just changed their position on it, leaving room for U.S. doctors to do an abbreviated form of the procedure known as “nicking.” There are four main kinds of FGM. “Nicking” is the least severe, … Read more
I am pleased to report that I will be speaking about “Catholics in Political Life Today ” with Ross Douthat and Melinda Henneberger on Wednesday June 2 at the Loyola University Chicago School of Law. The man to thank for organizing the talk is Dr. John Breen of Mirror of Justice fame. I can hear … Read more
We Catholics used to be known for the importance we attached to marriage. But in my 13 years as a professional journalist, I rarely read Catholics discuss in detail why marriages succeed or fail. We talk about gay marriage, cohabitation, divorce and adultery, and out-of-wedlock childbearing. But never do we discuss a greater threat to … Read more
When I hear or see people arguing about liturgy, either on-line or in person, I tend to run the other way. This is not for lack of an opinion, or out of some sense of not wanting to be “controversial”; I run because even people who think they know about liturgy are really quite uninformed … Read more
This will be of interest to IC readers: Former television news producer and anchor Bob Bowden has created his first documentary — a feature-length indictment of the education establishment. The Cartel has won both film festival awards and a long list of rave reviews. The trailer will certainly get your heart pumping: [UPDATE: Like a … Read more
It seems somebody one day had the bright idea of asking Samuel Johnson whether he wrote for money. It’s easy to imagine that great man of letters and lexicographer of the late 18th century puffing up like an angry blowfish as he replied, “Sir, anyone who writes for anything except money is a fool.” … Read more
Clark Griswold himself would have been proud (and maybe even a trifle envious) of the way I spent the last ten days of my life. My family and I were subjected to privileged to spend 8+ hours on the side of a Wyoming road in 30 degree weather with two fewer tires than is generally considered … Read more
The Jesuit CEO of UCA News says that the Catholic understanding of transbustantiation is no longer tenable in our “post-Newtonian world of quantum physics.” Physicist Stephen Barr begs to differ: [O]ne can explain the doctrine of transubstantiation and distinguish it from other beliefs about the Eucharist without any use of the Aristotelian apparatus. I don’t … Read more
Does the First Amendment need protection from itself? A case from Washington State, although just rejected by the Supreme Court, suggests it might: Franz Biebl, a perfectly pleasant Bavarian composer, has been banned there, in Snohomish County. Worse, it was Biebl’s most popular work, his setting of “Ave Maria,” that was expelled from Henry “Scoop” … Read more
This is interesting: A newly-completed study of fetal death rates in September, from 1996 to 2002, found that 12% more male fetuses died in September 2001 (after the 20th week of pregnancy) than in the other years. According to the BBC News, fewer boys were born in the U.S. three to four months following 9/11. … Read more
God gave Adam and Eve dominion over the earth. This mission was confided to them, not to let it become stale but to make it bear fruit. They were called to take care of it, to tend it, and to develop it. Nature was the material, and man was to foster its development and to … Read more
A few years ago, we got fleas. It happened exactly one week after we gave the world’s stupidest cat the old heave ho. The flaming injustice of this timing should have taught me something about the way the gods of vermin feel about me. It should have prepared me for what happened to us a few … Read more
The Cannes Film Festival closed over the weekend, and much of the buzz out of France has been over the Grand Prix winner, Des Hommes et Des Dieux (Of Gods and Men). It recounts the story of a group of French Trappists who were caught in the middle of the Algerian civil war and ultimately … Read more
While Kentucky senatorial candidate Rand Paul pulled back from the national media after his Rachel Maddow Show appearance, he did allow one interview on Friday with local television station WHAS11. It hasn’t gotten much notice, but it’s worth reading. Paul said one lesson learned from the MSNBC experience is “I need to be very careful … Read more
One of the most exasperating bits of exegetical trendiness to afflict first-world Catholics for the past 30 years or so has been the endless recirculation, like a bad penny, of the True Meaning of the Miracles of the Loaves and Fishes homily. It goes like this: Jesus found Himself in the wilderness with a … Read more
I am writing this on the Sunday still called Pentecost, on the very eve of “Ordinary Time.” It is the great gift of post-Vatican II — the desert that howls before us. I have been a Catholic now for six years, four months, and 23 days, and am still fumbling through what used to be … Read more
I’ve heard of this Roman tradition, but have never seen it: On Pentecost, to symbolize the Holy Spirit’s descent on the Apostles and Mary, rose petals are dropped from the Pantheon’s oculus. The video belows gives a sense of what it would be like to experience the event. You’ll notice Veni Creator Spiritus being chanted … Read more
With the general direction of American politics trending towards more government control of ever-smaller areas of life, and with the citizenry’s ever-greater detachment from the exercise of said governance, it is rare and refreshing fruit when every now and then the people manage to strike a blow for some small freedom. I know, because I’ve … Read more
You have to hand it to the guy — after 100 years, Mark Twain still knows how to grab headlines: Exactly a century after rumours of his death turned out to be entirely accurate, one of Mark Twain’s dying wishes is at last coming true: an extensive, outspoken and revelatory autobiography which he devoted the … Read more